Fall/Winter 2002 - School of Nursing - University of Minnesota

In Memoriam continued from page 8
Zenkovich Nursing Scholarship was awarded this year to
Rebecca L. Asuma. (See Network, Spring/Summer 2002, Vol.
IV, No. 1, pp. 2.)
According to her sister, Anna, Zenkovich received decorations
of the American Campaign Medal, the World War II
Victory Medal, the Korean Service Medal and the National
Defense Service Medals as well as numerous honors and
awards commemorating her service in the U.S. Navy where
she was a World War II and Korean War Veteran serving on
the U.S.S. Hawaii. Family plans are to dedicate a Theater
Chair Plaque in her memory at The Women’s Memorial honoring
Women In Military Service For America Memorial
Foundation Inc. in Washington D.C.
In Loving Memory of My Great-Great Aunt
Bertha G. Roesch
by Kate Hieb
Bertha G. Roesch died at the age of 103 in Ada, MN, April 22,
2002. She was born July 6, 1898, the third of six children to
Joseph and Anna Roesch. She attended school in Ada and later,
due to the desperate call for nurses during World War I, she and
some friends decided to do their civic duty and take nurse’s training,
but by the time they were ready to leave, the Armistice had been
signed.
Despite the war’s end, Bertha followed through with her plans to
become a registered nurse. She went to Minneapolis General Hospital
School of Nursing and graduated in 1922. After graduation,
Bertha worked with Dr. Gardner in Minneapolis. Then, from 1923
to 1927, she worked in the
emergency ward at Minneapolis
General Hospital.
After returning to Ada
for a short period, she
returned to Minneapolis in
1928 to work at Minneapolis
General Hospital’s
surgical ward. She moved
back to Ada in the late
1940s to help care for her
mother and also worked for
the Ada Hospital as a night
nurse. Working along side
Dr. Loken, she assisted
with a number of local
births.
Bertha G. Roesch, 1922
After a nursing career
that spanned 50 years, Bertha retired from the hospital in 1972 at
the age of 74. She devoted her life to her career working as a surgical
nurse and nursing supervisor and earned great respect from
physicians, co-workers, and patients. She was an independent
woman who lived in her home for over 50 years until the traumatic
flood in 1997 when her basement flooded and she decided that it
was time for a change. Bertha was not only known for her leadership
in nursing but her gardening, preserves, and other talents, such
as hardanger and tatting snowflakes. She enjoyed card and dice
games with family and friends. Bertha was involved in several clubs
and entertained regularly, as well as being an active member at St.
Joseph’s Church in Ada.
As a 2002 graduate of the Minnesota School of Nursing, I am
blessed to have a loving, generous, and kindhearted great-great aunt
and nursing leader to look up to. Bertha was a nurse who took pride
in her profession and cared for her patients. She influenced many
individuals and families over her many years of service to her community.
Bertha Roesch will be forever missed and always
remembered, as her nursing values and inspiration will live on
through many—especially me.
Bertha G. Roesch with her great-great niece Kate Hieb.
Fall/Winter 2002 ■ Vol. IV, No. 2 9